


keeping warm

by doxian



Category: Akatsuki no Yona | Yona of the Dawn
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Psychic Bond, Touch-Starved
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-13
Updated: 2015-09-13
Packaged: 2018-04-20 13:44:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,647
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4789406
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/doxian/pseuds/doxian
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"The villagers wouldn't come near me," Shin-Ah says, so quietly that Kija almost misses it.</p><p><i>Why is he bringing that up suddenly?</i> Kija knows this, he'd seen for himself the deplorable way the villagers treated someone with blood as noble as Shin-Ah's, so why -</p><p>"Ah." This is starting to make sense. "I suppose that means nobody ever... touched you, either?"</p>
            </blockquote>





	keeping warm

About a week after they find the Blue Dragon - no, his name is Shin-Ah now, the princess said - Kija sleeps straight through the night for the first time. 

His back and shoulders still ache worse than they did after he'd spent hours slashing through rock with his claw, and he's bruised in places where he didn't think it was possible to _get_ bruises, but waking up without the painful haze of sleeplessness hanging over his head is better than a thousand mornings of rising from silk sheets and feather pillows. 

Hak shakes his hand, congratulating him sarcastically and calling him "young master" again. Kija's good mood is very nearly ruined. He's tempted to punch the insolent man in the face - with the strength of ten men in his right hand, no less - but the princess immediately smacks the backs of both their heads before helping herself to the breakfast Yoon already has bubbling over a fire. 

They break camp quickly; Yoon and Hak estimate that they have a lot of ground to cover if they want to catch up to the Green Dragon in good time. 

Kija's newfound comfort with sleeping outside isn't the only thing about him that's changed. His feet have gone from blistered to calloused, and his complaints about insects and the lack of proper beds and baths have given way to silent appreciation. He'd seen and experienced plenty of things on their journey that he'd never had the chance to at the village. Swimming in a crisp, cool river under the moonlight; witnessing the sweeping countryside seemingly at their feet from the tops of dizzying peaks; discovering entire fields of strange flowers whose blooms are every colour of the rainbow. 

His enjoyment is amplified by Shin-Ah's. He might not speak very much, and his expression is impossible to gauge behind his ever-present mask, but Kija starts to notice the way he looks at the surrounding landscape, the way he sometimes breaks away from the rest of the group to take nighttime walks with Ao. He might be silent enough to escape the rest of the group's notice, but with the dragons' link to one another Kija is dimly aware of Shin-Ah's whereabouts at all times. 

It's comforting. Where his connection to their master is sublime and overwhelming, his connections to the other dragons are solid and familiar - bonds of kinship. He'd longed for the rest of them the way he'd longed for Yona - perhaps in a different way, but no less intensely. 

Kija makes good on his promise, taking a portion of time every day to walk beside Shin-Ah and educate him on their past. He may only respond with a nod or a hum to show that he's listening, but Kija can definitely tell how _grateful_ he is to finally learn about what they are. 

\--

The following night, Shin-Ah finds himself stirred into wakefulness by a rustling noise and the distinct feeling of another person's presence right next to him. He sits up, keeping his eyes shut, but he doesn't need to see to know that it's the White Dragon. 

"Ah, sorry for waking you," Kija says quietly, retreating after placing what feels to be a blanket over him. 

Shin-Ah fumbles for his mask and holds it against his face, opening his eyes once they're safely covered. 

The soft material is indeed a blanket. Shin-Ah picks up one end of it in his other hand and looks at Kija questioningly.

"You were shivering. You don't like the cold, right?" 

Shin-Ah didn't. The current weather could hardly be considered cold by most - a little bracing, if anything. But even with his thick, fur-lined tunic, Shin-Ah found the drop in temperature unpleasant.

If the cold was bothering him, though, Kija with his slender frame and thin cloak probably isn't faring much better. Shin-Ah starts pushing the blanket off to give it back, but Kija stops him by placing a cool hand over his.

"It's alright! I have an extra. Besides, I said I'd look after you like an older brother, didn't I?" 

_We're only two years apart_ , Shin-Ah thinks, looking from Kija's fond, beatific smile to his hand over Shin-Ah's clenched fist. Even after roughing it outdoors for this much time, Kija's human hand is still soft and pale. 

It suddenly occurs to Shin-Ah that he's been touched more times since he met Yona than all the years after Ao's death put together. 

"You can take that off around me, you know," Kija is saying, taking his hand away now that Shin-Ah is still. "The mask. Here, let me - " 

Shin-Ah immediately brings his other hand up to the mask to block Kija from touching it.

"Don't. They might hurt you - my eyes."

"Shin-Ah," Kija says, and Shin-Ah feels like he's being gently reprimanded. "They won't. I'm immune to your powers because of my blood. Remember?"

He still hesitates. The only instances where he's removed his mask have been to show that he means no harm, to sleep, or because someone else had taken it off by force. 

Kija sighs, long-suffering and patient.

"Shin-Ah. I'm not a human. My blood is the White Dragon's blood. Your paralyzing eyes won't work on me," Kija continues, firmly. His voice is clear and confident even when it's lowered. 

"It's weird. Taking it off," murmurs Shin-Ah, but part of him wants to do it, to sit around bare-faced with one of his companions. He's distinctly aware of how much he trusts Kija after only a few weeks of travel together.

"Ah - I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable!" Kija says, misinterpreting Shin-Ah's tone, raising his voice and flailing his hands. "Don't get upset - "

"Alright," Shin-Ah says, interrupting his tirade.

"Huh?"

"It's fine. You can take it off."

Now that Shin-Ah has agreed, Kija looks uncertain, but he reaches forward, holding one edge of the mask with one hand and gently pulling Shin-Ah's hand away from it with the other. Shin-Ah is silent, his heartbeat going double-time. There it is again - just like when Kija took his hand when they were first introduced, when he'd briefly touched his hand and face earlier. A soft tug in his chest, like there's a fishhook in his heart, so sweet and unbearable that he almost feels compelled to run off again. 

\--

"There," Kija says with satisfaction, setting the mask down. 

Shin-Ah immediately takes Kija's hands and brings them back to his face, pressing the palms against his cheeks. 

"W-what are you doing?" Kija stammers, feeling his cheeks go pink. 

Shin-Ah - as usual - doesn't answer in words, but his expression is peaceful.

"Does it... does it feel nice?" Kija asks. 

Shin-Ah just closes his eyes. The silence stretches out for so long that Kija no longer expects an answer, so he's surprised when he actually gets one. 

"The villagers wouldn't come near me," Shin-Ah says, so quietly that Kija almost misses it. 

_Why is he bringing that up suddenly?_ Kija knows this, he'd seen for himself the deplorable way the villagers treated someone with blood as noble as Shin-Ah's, so why - 

"Ah." This is starting to make sense. "I suppose that means nobody ever... touched you, either?" 

A short shake of the head. He presses Kija's hands even closer, ever so slightly. 

Kija frowns. Growing up surrounded by loving friends and family, he can't imagine an existence like Shin-Ah's, lonely and feared by the rest of his village, receiving only scraps of affection from his guardian when he was a child.

He looks over to where the others are. They all appear to be fast asleep. 

He turns back to Shin-Ah. A little hesitantly, he traces Shin-Ah's face with his fingertips, from his forehead down to his chin. Then he cups his cheeks again, rubbing his thumbs gently over the red tattoos under his eyes. 

His heart is hammering. Every inconsequential touch makes the link between them sing. 

Shin-Ah shivers. Kija doesn't think it has anything to do with the cold. _He must feel it, too._

"Shall I keep going?" he asks quietly. 

A nod. 

He takes a breath and moves his hands up into Shin-An's closely cropped hair, pushing the tips of his fingers into the other dragon's scalp. 

A sigh, this time. Kija swallows. He hadn't realized how he'd gradually been learning further forward, and now they're so close he can feel the puff of Shin-Ah's breath against his face. He must be blushing bright red by now, but at least Shin-Ah's eyes are closed so he can't witness his embarrassment. 

He continues massaging Shin-Ah's scalp, spurred on by how content the other looks. He strokes his hair, traces the shells and lobes of his ears. They end up with their foreheads pressed together, breathing in tandem, Kija rubbing the nape of Shin-Ah's neck and Shin-Ah still loosely grasping Kija's forearms. 

"Kija," Shin-Ah whispers eventually, "I'm happy that I'm traveling with all of you."

Affection surges up so strongly in Kija's chest that his eyes water, and he pulls the surprised Shin-Ah into a tight hug, wrapping his arms around his neck. Shin-Ah freezes stock-still for a moment, but then he responds in kind, resting his hands uncertainly on the small of Kija's back. 

"I have an idea," Kija murmurs. (He's not blushing. He's _not_.) "We can keep warm like this." 

A questioning noise. 

Kija looks pointedly at the blanket. 

"We can share."

Kija only intends to stay until they're both sufficiently warm, but he ends up drifting off to sleep with his face against Shin-Ah's chest and Shin-Ah's nose in his hair. The rest of their group finds them like that the next morning. Hak doesn't stop haranguing Kija about it for the rest of the day, but as Yoon finally steals Hak away to talk navigation and Shin-Ah quietly falls into step beside him, Kija can't find it within himself to be all that bothered by the teasing.


End file.
